The situation was dire, crucial seconds were ticking away and it looked like the end was near.

But, as the record 114,804 fans at the Notre Dame vs. Michigan football game last Saturday can attest, there was magic in the night air.

A revival for the ages was about to take place.

And it had nothing to do with Denard Robinson, Roy Roundtree or the rest of the Wolverines who were rallying for their come-from-behind 35-31 win over the Irish.

For while Michigan was pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, Leo Staudacher was pulling life from the clutches of death.

Staudacher, the 69-year-old Bangor Township resident, was dead and gone for more than 30 seconds after suffering a heart attack — the kind that doctors call “the widow maker” — while attending the first night game in Michigan Stadium history.

But a handful of Michigan fans, who were treated to their team coming through like champions in the fourth quarter, came through like heroes to resuscitate Staudacher in the second quarter.

And they didn’t hesitate despite seeing Staudacher and sons Mike, Jeff and Scott stand for the Notre Dame fight song then cheer the Irish on to a 14-0 lead. Leo Staudacher is an ardent — OK, go ahead and say die-hard — Notre Dame fan.

But he loves U-M today.

“Last Saturday brought in at least five new fans to U of M — me, my wife and three sons, and probably a whole lot more — I can tell you that,” said Staudacher, remarkably feeling fine and back home on Friday.

An Irish backer since the days of Frank Leahy, Staudacher and his sons attend at least one Notre Dame game together each year. This season they snagged the hottest tickets in town for the first game under the lights at Michigan Stadium.

But shortly into the second quarter, Staudacher — who said he’s never had any signs of heart issues — started feeling discomfort, despite Notre Dame’s two-touchdown lead.

Could it be anxiety from the prospect of Notre Dame’s first win in Ann Arbor since 2005? Could it be guilt from leaving wife Marge home on their 51st anniversary to go play with the boys? Could it be the kielbasa?

“It felt like really bad heartburn and it was screwing its way through me,” he said. “I thought, ‘Man, I shouldn’t have eaten that brat.’

“But then I got really tired and my arms started feeling like cement and I thought ‘This sounds an awful lot like a heart attack, but it can’t be.’ And that’s the last thing I remember.”

Fortunately for Staudacher, when someone asks “Is there a doctor in the Big House?” folks spring into action like a two-minute offense.

Dr. Marvin Sonne, a dentist from Trenton and a U-M grad, was the first to respond, immediately performing CPR. Jan Tardiff, a nursing supervisor at Bay Regional Medical Center, came rushing from a few rows away.

Within minutes — very precious minutues — on-site medical personel zapped him four times with a portable defribillator, bringing him back to consciousness. Staudacher was then taken by Huron Valley ambulance to the U-M Health Systems Cardiovascular Center where doctors implanted a stent.

He was stable in time for the fourth-quarter fireworks.

Through groggy eyes, he watched on an intensive care television as the lead changed hands three times in the final 1:12 on three touchdowns in an eight-play stretch, one of the most fantastic finishes in college football history.

“It would have been nice to see a different outcome in the game, but nobody is complaining about the end result of the day,” said Jeff Staudacher, a Notre Dame devotee like his dad.

“I’m sure this will be a topic of discussion — hopefully for another 20 more years ahead of him — and we can joke about the football game where we nearly lost him.”